Hello. I was busy in the fall, collecting my poems about our home at White Rose Shire. So I’m happy to announce its release on Amazon.
This is a project especially dear to my heart. My granddaughter, Kara, is an artist. She drew some beautiful pictures to add delight to the little poetry book. Some poems have already been featured on my Medium platform, and I’ve added a link at the bottom if you’d like to read more.
The book is available in print and ebook from Amazon, and you can read it for free if you’re a member of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program.
Kara and I will love to hear from you if you read it!
Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
What God Wants What if all that God requires of me is the simplest thing as I wake in the morning before I do any other thing before I make any other decision about what to eat or what to wear before I speak or comb my hair before I sit at my desk what if I simply ask “What do You have for me today?” and listen to what He has to say?
…
Just one simple thing What if it’s that simple? I mean, really that simple? Have we been overcomplicating this trust in God thing? Have we wasted so much time reading the perfect study books and taking the perfect writing courses? Maybe attending the perfect workshops or listening to the ones we think have the perfect biblical answers?
“It’s acceptable. It’s been normalized. It’s expected. But that doesn’t make it right.”
I was busy doing all those things and getting nowhere until I remembered God had the answers to all my questions. He knew me better and more intimately than anyone I thought knew what was best for me. He knew my struggles and how I could overcome the fogginess in my mind and aching in my heart. And who knows social media marketing algorithms better?
I wanted to serve Him, but I’d forgotten to ask what He wanted me to do!
His burden is light
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29–30 (NIV)
Now I make sure I choose to ask God every morning before I do anything else. I thank Him for the new day and the opportunity to serve Him as His daughter. I wait for Him to speak to me and ask what He also wants me to learn that day. Then I chose one devotional book and followed the writer’s prompts to read further in Scripture.
I usually get a prompt to think about something throughout the day. Sometimes I get an idea for a short memoir or a few lines for a poem! Sometimes I’m led to have a conversation with a friend or maybe pray for someone that suddenly comes to mind out of the blue.
All other things stand firm in their rightful position for the day if that one foundation is laid first. Even if I’m not prompted to do anything in particular, I know I’m still in His will because I did the simplest thing first — I asked.
So, as I go about my day, I occasionally pause and listen, content to wait for His answer.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 6:33–34 (NIV)
…
‘Til next time–I hope you take time to listen to God as He speaks to you in the quiet moments (or seconds) of your day.
Resounding percussion from a hollow in the wall. Faint rhythmic echoes down the hall. I can’t quite make out the lyrical throng or I would happily sing along.
—
As we age, our hearing may slowly diminish. This has been a opic of several discussions between the older members of my family. So, when I asked my son what music he’d been playing down the hall and he replied he hadn’t, I wrote this poem.
We poets will find inspiration in the strangest places!
photo of grandmother and child by Matlachu on pixabay
When my grandchildren were small, I would often be asked to care for them while their parents worked. I delighted in the opportunity to watch them grow.
My youngest grandson would usually run around the room making “pew-pew” sounds, aiming his lightsaber at the cat or an intruding alien from a far-off galaxy. But sometimes, he would join his sister and me under a cozy blanket on the couch. We’d spend the evening watching Disney movies (for the umpteenth time). We’d drink spicy tea and eat ice cream until they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer.
Now in their teens, they still greet me with the same, “Hi Gran,” when I visit.
“Hi Gran!”
Disney princesses serenade along a frozen riverbank. A bowl of ice cream liquifies on the table beside us as our hands coil around a cup of steamy Bengal Spice. Childhood wrapped with laughter, curled up together, cocooned in a fluffy pink blanket.
’Til next time — I hope you have some children in your life. Cherish all the moments you get.
’Til next time — life’s short, so don’t sweat the small stuff (until you can’t get into bed).
Lynne
This poem was originally posted on Medium.
If you’d like to read all my poems and stories you can become a reader of Medium’s thousands of articles each month by thousands of writers for a monthly subscription of only $5 US. You can subscribe using the link below.
“Life coaches can help you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and then come up with strategies for overcoming each obstacle.”
I used to be a life coach and found enormous satisfaction in helping people realize their potential. Although I still coach occasionally, I no longer have an office practice. Now I enjoy writing—especially poetry.
…
The Client and The Coach
She sits across from me in the straight-backed chair
fidgeting with a string on her jacket
her long orange-streaked hair falling over her face
as she answers my questions.
Young mother of two with questions of her own
she’s here to find answers but I have none.
What she doesn’t understand yet, is that
all the answers are already within her.
I tell her I can help her find them.
Her head slowly rises from the slump,
brow lines deepen.
She asks how she can possibly have the answers already.
I close my notebook and smile.
…
’Til next time, I hope you’re feeling good about your future and on the path to fulfilling your dreams.
My last post was about black-out poetry, a technique I learned from Austin Kleon’s book “Steal Like An Artist.” Today I’m going to try another technique which I learned from taking a Masterclass with Billy Collins. His suggestion was to take an ordinary everyday item and find inspiration in it. Being a Brit kid from the last century and a big Corrie fan, I chose a teabag.
teabag image by Lynne Collier
Haiku
I’ve been feeling the need for focus lately and what better form of poetry for narrowing down the words to as few as possible than to write a Haiku poem?
Poets over the decades have waffled on the exact rules of writing Haiku. The traditional Japanese Haiku is a three-line poem with a 5/7/5 syllable count, often focusing on images from nature, emphasizing simplicity and clarity of expression.
A modern Haiku poem is not required to, and generally does not, rhyme–although it can at the poet’s discretion. In other words, it’s all up to the writer how they want to approach it.
The set rule of 5/7/5 syllables still needs to be adhered to and spelling needs to be accurate, but all other punctuation and grammar are poetic license (pun intended).
So here’s my Haiku poem from my teabag–
WAXING
Liquid dries and leaves–
A breakfast roll, crescent moon?
–Pacman’s gaping mouth
On days when I can’t focus enough to write, I like to jot down a short poem to help bring me back to concentrate on my work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see a particularly interesting dust bunny that could be my next masterpiece.
Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
This week I also added TheSteal Like an Artist Journalby Austin Kleon to my list. He’s a brilliant Creative who astonishes me by his way of encouraging artists of all mediums to delve into artistic bins of untapped ideas and brilliance.
Each page is an exercise to stretch the grey matter to its limits of reality and see things through a different lens. One such exercise is the ‘Black-Out’ approach to writing poetry. An exercise I’ve found most intriguing. I wanted to share my ‘stolen’ discovery with you.
Here’s what he asks of the reader on this particular page:
“Black out one word at a time until you are left with a poem.”
He gives a writing sample to practice on in case you don’t have anything handy but I write mostly Scripture-inspired poetry so I chose to black-out a passage from the book of Revelation.
Revelation 3:15-18, New International Version (NIV)
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Here are the words that spoke to me–
Deeds cold hot
either.
Lukewarm
neither.
Spit out!
Rich wealth need.
Realize
wretched pitiful
poor
blind naked.
Gold refined in
Fire.
Cover shameful
nakedness.
Salve eyes
See
Even without any revising I think this is a solid start to a good poem.
Have you tried this method?
Let me know in the comments.
Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
~ Lynne
(A quick word–I’m a Canadian Amazon affiliate so I receive a small fee from Amazon for outbound clicks and purchases which helps me to pay for my website. Thank you 😊)
An instructor from one of my online poetry classes gave us a list of words and asked us to choose one to write a poem in any form we chose. I chose to write in simple rhyme about the word “contentment”. I find I’m more at peace and full of contentment in my garden.
How do you find contentment?
CONTENTMENT
Children grown
Life’s my own.
Friends are few
That will do.
Birds they sing.
No phones ring.
Flowers dance,
Bunnies prance.
Slow now – good.
As I should.
It’s not hard
In my yard.
‘Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
My Throne and Footstool by Ray Majoran in Compassion Gallery
THE SONG OF THE BENEVOLENTS
Good people come, hear of the King.
Rejoice with us, break bread and sing.
Dance the merrier free from fear.
For peaceful ones find solace here.
Our town is hidden in the veil,
The King’s legacy to prevail.
His great love is bequest on all
Who seek his grace in Hallowed Hall.
But woe to those who would do ill
For the King is just to do his will.
Hark evil ones with vile intents
The words of The Benevolents.
This song is sung by the people of the Town Of Refuge when they gather together for celebrations and prepare for confrontation with encroaching armies.
The beautiful photo is by Ray Majoran. You can view his collection in Compassion Gallery which donates all profits to charity.
Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image. Be safe, be well, be blessed.
Lynne Collier 